I seem to have become a sling slut...

Tuesday, 24 May 2011 | Admin

I seem to have become a sling slut. I'm not quite sure how it happened, but having 4 kids and running a business at the same time means I definitly need some sort of 'hands-free kit'....but at current reckoning I currently have 5 different carriers or slings, which does seem a bit excessive....

Baby Bjorn With no 1 son, we bought a baby bjorn which is more of a structured carrier than a sling. H used it more when no1 son was little as I couldn't get to grips with it - looking back now, that was definitely more my fault than anything to do with the carrier though because I used it easily with no2 son.It's a great choice if your man is going to be wearing bubs as it's pretty butch but still comfortable. H carried no1 son all the way over the seven sisters to Eastbourne in it one day and it worked really well.

When no1 daughter arrived I decided I needed something more comfortable to wear indoors. She was a bit of a screamer you see, and didn't like being set down, probably because she was hungry... So I ordered two 'hotslings' as I thought they looked quite groovy. Which they did to be fair but my LO absolutely hated being in it and screamed her head off, so they were not for us. I see since then than hotslings have made them adjustable now, so maybe that would have worked better for us. Hey ho.

I did a bit more research and found my 'hands-free kit' aka my Kari me Sling which I still LOVE and have blogged about it before way back in April 2009. It's perfect at home, especially when Aerin tends to be a little bit unsettled in the early evening (coinciding with tea-time for everyone else, I think she just wants to join in). She can snuggle in close and have a cuddly snooze which is just lovely for us both.So, given that I love my Kari-Me, why have I got myself another sling?Well I wore my Kari-Me at the NEC baby show on Friday and found that the stretchy fabric wasn't quite so good when I needed to be a bit more active. As I was bending over and lifting boxes etc, Aerin had a tendency to move about a little.

I popped along to the lovely Ladies on the Close Parent stand and borrowed one of their award winning close parent carriers. What a difference! Whilst the fabric still has a bit of 'give' in it, it's heavier fabric and holds the baby more firmly in place which is reassuring. Having the fabric come together on the back means that the straps stay widely apart, spreading the weight of the baby evenly and making it super-comfortable to wear. I literally had Aerin in the carrier all day on Saturday and Sunday and didn't have any back ache from wearing it at all. And even though the fabric is heavier, it felt cooler to wear as it doesn't wrap around in the same way. You can even breast feed in it - I haven't tried this yet but will certainly give it a go.I almost wouldn't have believed you if you'd told me there was a better sling than the kari-me, but just goes to prove that I'm wrong occasionally....